The present invention relates to a garment hanger of plastic construction material for suspending from a support a plurality of garments, and more particularly to such a hanger for supporting both a bra and panties.
There are numerous embodiments of inexpensive plastic, injection-molded hangers to which garments are attached at the factory or other manufacturing site and shipped to the retailer, who then can conveniently transfer the same to his display racks. The hangers referred to are typically known as "ship-on" hangers and afford the obvious convenience to the retailer of having the garment being provided in a display position on a hanger which, in turn, can readily be placed on a support rod of a display rack with little or no handling. Moreover, the hanger is so inexpensive that it is feasible to discard it, if the customer so chooses, when the purchase is completed, the hanger having achieved its primary function of advantageously displaying the garment so as to contribute to the sale thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,079 discloses a number of these embodiments.
Typically, a multigarment ship-on hanger of plastic construction material comprises a centrally located suspending member for being suspended from a support, a body connected to the base of the suspending member and oriented horizontally when used, and, at each of the opposite ends of the body, a plurality of garment-engaging grips molded integral therewith. Each of the grips is defined by at least a wall surface of the hanger and a resilient finger extending parallel to that wall surface.
More particularly, in order to suspend panties, slacks, trousers, bathing suit bottoms or the like having a waistband, there is at least one downwardly opening grip at each of the opposite ends of the hanger body. Such a grip comprises a vertically oriented wall surface of the hanger extending from a location adjacent the upper edge of the body to a location adjacent the lower edge thereof, and a first resilient finger extending downwardly and spaced outwardly of the vertically oriented wall surface such that there is a first clearance space between one side of the first finger and the vertically oriented wall surface defining a first garment-receiving slot therebetween. The first finger is movable in a direction transverse to and away from the vertically oriented wall surface by displacement to enlarge the first clearance space.
Additionally, in order to suspend a bra, full slip, teddy, bathing suit top or the like having shoulder straps, there is at least one horizontally opening grip at each of the opposite ends of the hanger body. Such a grip comprises a horizontally oriented wall surface of the hanger extending from a location adjacent an end edge of the body to a location inwardly thereof, and a second resilient finger extending horizontally and spaced vertically from the horizontally oriented wall surface such that there is a second clearance space between one side of the second finger and the horizontally oriented wall surface defining a second garment-receiving slot therebetween. The second finger is movable in a direction transverse to and away from the horizontally oriented wall surface by displacement to enlarge the second clearance space.
In particular instances, there will be at each of the opposite ends of the body of the multigarment ship-on hanger merely a single vertically opening grip to accommodate panties or the like and a single horizontally opening grip to accommodate a bra or the like, although in other hanger constructions (as illustrated in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,079) there may be a pair of the horizontally opening grips, e.g., one to receive the shoulder straps of a bra and one to receive the shoulder straps of a full slip, teddy, or the like.
The same patent notes that it frequently inadvertently happens that the finger of a grip (which in use is pushed away from the opposed wall surface of the hanger body) ruptures or breaks at its connection to the body because of stress which develops in the plastic construction material of the hanger, thereby significantly reducing the period of usefulness thereof. This is most apparent in the vertically opening grip adapted to receive panties and the like because the thickness of the material to be received by the clearance space therein may vary greatly (depending upon whether the material is the sheer elastic waistband of a pair of panties or the relatively thicker waistband of a pair of slacks), so that the finger thereof may have to be displaced to varying degrees from the vertically oriented wall surface. Where, as is customary in the prior art, the vertically oriented wall surface is fixedly disposed, all of the stress associated with the insertion of the panties and the like into the clearance space is concentrated at the connection between the resilient finger and the vertically oriented wall space, thus making this connection a point of weakness where the grip typically breaks.
Breakage of the grip at this point of weakness often occurs at the factory or other manufacturing site when the garments are first placed on the hangers. Even if the grip survives the initial insertion of a garment, it is often subject to repeated usage at the store as the garment is removed from and then replaced on the hanger by store personnel and customers. This repeated usage often results in breakage of the grip. Finally, further use of the grip by the customer at home may also result in breakage.
Because of the high frequency of breakage of the grip, the grip is typically designed to hold the thickest possible garment. This design choice often results in the inability of the grip to hold thinner garments, which then end up on the floor. As such, the versatility of the grip is severely limited.
Another serious problem with prior art multigarment hangers, including those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,079, is that the use of the downwardly opening grip prevents or inhibits use of the upper horizontally opening grip, because the bight portions of the two grips are closely connected. Specifically, use of the downwardly opening grip causes the finger of the upper horizontally opening grip to move towards the top wall of the hanger resulting in a reduction in the clearance space of the upper horizontally opening grip. In fact, the introduction of a thick garment in the downwardly opening grip often serves to preclude use of the upper horizontally opening grip altogether.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a multigarment hanger of plastic construction material wherein the stress induced at the connection between the finger and the wall surface of the grip is reduced.
Another object is to provide such a hanger wherein the stress at the connection of the downwardly opening grip adapted to receive panties and the like is reduced without affecting the clearance space of any of the other garment-engaging grips.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a hanger which can accommodate in the downwardly opening grip waistbands of substantially varying thickness without breaking such grip.
It is a further object to provide such a hanger which is of simple and inexpensive construction.